


Broken

by purglepurglepurgle



Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: Gen, Paperwork, did someone say projection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-10-28 09:16:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20776166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purglepurglepurgle/pseuds/purglepurglepurgle
Summary: Reno goes to a meeting with Tseng, to learn how to format some paperwork. There is a problem.





	Broken

Reno is squinting at the computer screen, over Tseng's shoulder. He shifts his weight from foot to foot; his knees ache already. He spent all last week fighting (ie: running from) malboros, in an ill-fated attempt to get some M-Tentacles for the Science Department, and now his legs _kill_, but there isn't a spare chair in Tseng's office. Reno reckons Tseng's done that on purpose, to discourage visitors. Normally, that works for Reno; he'd rather not be there at all-- but Tseng said he needed to show Reno a change in how they format their status reports, so here he is. Reno's bracing himself; he never bothered to learn how to format his reports in the first place, and Tseng's gonna yell when he sees. Well, not yell. That's not his style. More like stony silence. Frosty silence. Stony, frosty silence, looming like one of those goddamn frozen rocks at the North Crater where, even after you smash off all the ice with a chisel, your path's still blocked by a big ol' slab of doom and you have to skulk back to the base, where Heidegger chews you out for not bringing some explosives with you and all the others take the piss.

Yeah, one o'them.

So they're on the webpage for the department portal. And Tseng says, "Right, let's see, status reports... Let me find the link... Go to the 'Teams' page, and then--" He jerks back from the computer as though he's been hit by the mag-rod. "What," he says, in horror, "is _that_?"

Reno takes a deep breath, but before he can speak, Tseng cuts him off.

"That _font_... What kind of person would choose to use that?"

_ Font?_

Reno looks. He didn't do anything special with fonts. Sure enough, Tseng hasn't even reached Reno's report. He's staring at the page title. It's... swirly.

"Heh, ouch," says Reno. He continues, fast, "Listen, boss, you should know, this week's report, see, I was pretty busy, an' I gotta tell you now, it's not the best work o' my career, but--"

"I don't understand. Why does this font even exist?" Tseng looks genuinely bereft.

Reno laughs awkwardly.

Tseng says nothing. The clock ticks.

"Soooo...." says Reno, antsy in the silence. "I was thinking, right, maybe this week I could stake out the Don, get some intel..." It's an easy job, and one that'll give him some free time to do what he wants. Might even be able to fit in a sneaky trip to Costa Del Sol. Step 1: order Don Corneo to go to Costa Del Sol. Step 2: 'tail' him. Reno reckons he's got a fine mind for strategy.

"I don't understand," says Tseng.

Reno tries to sell it. "Well, y'see, the Don's been actin' shiftier than normal lately-- an' that's sayin' somethin'-- an', an' some of us reckon he might be sellin' Shinra secrets to the other side, so--"

"I just don't understand. Who would ever think this font was a good idea? It's not even readable."

Reno realises that Tseng hasn't heard a word. Earlier that week, when Reno dropped off his two lousy bundles of M-Tentacles, bleeding all over the Science Department floor, he saw Hojo doing an experiment. The scientist put some headphones on a guy, and then played two different speeches at the same time, one through each ear. The guy couldn't form a sentence while the audio played. His brain was scrambled.

Tseng has been scrambled. He clicks on the screen at random, lost for words.

"Say, Tseng... I think I'm gonna go, yeah?"

Tseng nods distractedly, and Reno makes a break for it.

**Author's Note:**

> [This is the font that broke Tseng](https://www.dafont.com/foglihtenno04.font?text=This+is+the+font+that+broke+Tseng)


End file.
